MIDIs vs MP3s

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-06-16 12:23am

What's the difference? I mean, in terms of, nobody's out there trying to block the download of MIDIs.

I mean, granted, for lyrical music it's probably a nonissue since you don't get the words, but I have yet to see complaints from the movie makers and game industry, where MIDIs would sounds very much like what they have (ie: non-lyrical music).

Is there some kind of legal difference (since I'm fairly sure you have to make a MIDI on your own, it's not straight copying) or is that the film and game companies, who would have the rights to that music (I presume) simply don't give a damn like the RIAA seems to (at least on the issue of the music, and not pirated DVDs and/or games).

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-06-16 12:25am

MIDIs are shit. End of story.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-06-16 12:26am

Howedar wrote:MIDIs are shit. End of story.

Not really. Depends on where you get them. Then again, I really don't give a shit about "quality"

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-06-16 12:42am

Howedar wrote:MIDIs are shit. End of story.

Hardly! I have some very well made ones. And they're smaller and much faster to download on dial-up than MP3s.

This, however, does not even come close to answering the topic of this thread. If you want a discussion of MIDI quality, please take it outside of my thread. I'd like to keep this on topic, since I'm curious as to what the answer may be.

Coaan · Post by **Coaan** » 2003-06-16 12:56am

RogueIce wrote:
Howedar wrote:MIDIs are shit. End of story.
Hardly! I have some very well made ones. And they're smaller and much faster to download on dial-up than MP3s.

This, however, does not even come close to answering the topic of this thread. If you want a discussion of MIDI quality, please take it outside of my thread. I'd like to keep this on topic, since I'm curious as to what the answer may be.

Midi's are good for sound effects....Mp3s for actual music, with lyrics or otherwise...mp3's are of far higher quality of tone and note...they can capture music -as it's meant to be played-....not the synthizied knock off of the track

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-06-16 12:57am

Coaan wrote:Midi's are good for sound effects....Mp3s for actual music, with lyrics or otherwise...mp3's are of far higher quality of tone and note...they can capture music -as it's meant to be played-....not the synthizied knock off of the track

True, but it doesn't answer the question I posed.

Coaan · Post by **Coaan** » 2003-06-16 01:03am

RogueIce wrote:
Coaan wrote:Midi's are good for sound effects....Mp3s for actual music, with lyrics or otherwise...mp3's are of far higher quality of tone and note...they can capture music -as it's meant to be played-....not the synthizied knock off of the track
True, but it doesn't answer the question I posed.

You posed a question?...

Er, oops..

Well...considering you can quite legally download most midi's...I'd say it's a rather open format...and the riaa just don't give a shit...about midis anyway....

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2003-06-16 01:15am

RogueIce wrote:
Howedar wrote:MIDIs are shit. End of story.
Hardly! I have some very well made ones. And they're smaller and much faster to download on dial-up than MP3s.

This, however, does not even come close to answering the topic of this thread. If you want a discussion of MIDI quality, please take it outside of my thread. I'd like to keep this on topic, since I'm curious as to what the answer may be.

I think I am on topic. The RIAA and such aren't worried about people downloading MIDIs, because the music ends up vastly different anyway. One does not download a MIDI as a substitute for a CD.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-06-16 01:32am

MIDIs that are done well can sound really good, and it also helps if you had one of the better-end sound cards as well.

Since most music that's being produced by the corporates and the RIAA-related people are lyrical, and MIDIs deal with orchestra-based only, there naturally wouldn't be a fuss over MIDIs as there are over MP3s.

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2003-06-16 02:45am

MIDI that is made to sound like a MIDI is good. MIDI that is made to sound like "real" music is shit. You can get interesting sounds out of MIDI that you can't get from instruments, and vice versa. There's also a little bit of overlap in terms of what can be done (I once heard a REALLY good MIDI of the Superman theme), but one can never replace the other.

Besides, for amateur movie makers like me, sometimes it's easier to get your hands on a MIDI synth than to get "real" musicians to do their thing.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2003-06-16 04:35am

MIDIs are cool because you can import them into mixing programs, and assign different insturments, etc, to them. My friend uses them to make video game remixes.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-06-16 09:35am

MIDIs are not a direct copy. They just sound similar to the original, but they're effectively composed and performed separately. It's like another band performing your band's song.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-06-16 12:58pm

RogueIce wrote:What's the difference? I mean, in terms of, nobody's out there trying to block the download of MIDIs.

I mean, granted, for lyrical music it's probably a nonissue since you don't get the words, but I have yet to see complaints from the movie makers and game industry, where MIDIs would sounds very much like what they have (ie: non-lyrical music).

Is there some kind of legal difference (since I'm fairly sure you have to make a MIDI on your own, it's not straight copying) or is that the film and game companies, who would have the rights to that music (I presume) simply don't give a damn like the RIAA seems to (at least on the issue of the music, and not pirated DVDs and/or games).

Well, from a legal standpoint, an MP3 is a direct copy of the artist's original work. A MIDI file is somebody else's reinterpretation of a musical piece (you have to actually arrange a MIDI sequence. It's also the reason Metallica doesn't sue high school guitar clubs for practicing and performing their music.) Although they may sound similar, a song and it's MIDI equivalent aren't quite one in the same. Unlike an MP3, where somebody has just copied the artist's original recording and distributed it without the appropriate royalties.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-06-16 07:35pm

Is there software for converting a midi into an mp3?

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-16 07:45pm

You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2003-06-16 07:56pm

phongn wrote:You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?

I was just wondering. I have Winamp, so I'll give it a try.

SPOOFE · Post by **SPOOFE** » 2003-06-17 04:36am

Is there software for converting a midi into an mp3?

Creative's cards have some really spiffy recording options, notably "What-U-Hear" setting, that will save the recording as a .wav, exactly as you hear it play out of your speakers. So you apply any reverb (which does wonders for most MIDI's) or instruments, and then record.

Coaan · Post by **Coaan** » 2003-06-17 05:30am

phongn wrote:You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?

Smaller!!

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-06-17 02:42pm

Coaan wrote:
phongn wrote:You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?
Smaller!!

Um, let me get this straight... You think an MP3 is smaller in terms of file size than a MIDI?

I'd love to see what MIDIs you have! Most of mine don't make it out of the 100s of KB range, let alone an actual MB!

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-06-17 02:57pm

RogueIce wrote:
Coaan wrote:
phongn wrote:You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?
Smaller!!

Um, let me get this straight... You think an MP3 is smaller in terms of file size than a MIDI?

I'd love to see what MIDIs you have! Most of mine don't make it out of the 100s of KB range, let alone an actual MB!

I think he was refering to the wav to mp3 transition.....

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-06-17 03:22pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:I think he was refering to the wav to mp3 transition.....

Well, the original question, as I recall, was to convert a MIDI to an MP3...

YT300000 wrote:Is there software for converting a midi into an mp3?

Yep, there it is. Now, if he meant MP3 into a MIDI, that I would understand. But MIDI to MP3 to make it smaller?

Of course, now that I read it, it was YT who posed the question, and then Coaan was the one that said smaller... D'oh!

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-06-17 06:09pm

phongn wrote:You can use WinAmp to output the sound to a WAV file and then compress it. What's the point, though?

Well that *would* allow the sound to stay decent when the file is transferred to a computer with shitty MIDI support.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-17 06:12pm

Bah. That's just silly

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-06-18 12:37am

If you're a composer with a great MIDI card, of course you'll want to convert it to MP3 for other people to download.

Graeme Dice · Post by **Graeme Dice** » 2003-06-20 04:12am

Howedar wrote:MIDIs are shit. End of story.

You've obviously never listened to a good MIDI recording then. Take a world class player and put them on a piano with good optical recording, and the output will be identical to what the person played. MIDI is a modern version of the player piano.

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